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Vault 14
Vault 14, located in the Northwest Commonwealth, in the state of Oregon was established during the Resource Wars, by the Vault-Tec Corporation, with the growing unrest and fears of some members of the public, fearing a coming storm, otherwise later known as the Great War, the Vault survived the Great War but suffered a costly Civil War when the idea of leading the inhabitants of the Vault out in to the Wasteland was unveiled, with the war over, the new Overseer took the controversial decision of allowing new settlers from the wastes into the Vault, the Vault remained as a safe haven for wanderers who were in need of settling down or escaping from the hostile Wastes for generations afterwards. History Vault 14 was established following the mounting unrest in the public eye with the Resource wars threatening to plunge the world into a Nuclear War, the Vault-Tec Corporation chose two possible sites for Vault 14, and whilst the site was purchased and preliminary work started on construction of the husk of the vault. The construction work, however, would be plagued by almost continuous land slides, thus forcing designers to accept vault downsizing, if only to compensate for the lack of funds with which to compensate families who's family members were crushed to death in these series of often entirely avoidable accidents. Thus, the number of residents was estimated to hold roughly five hundred inhabitants instead of the originally planned one thousand. This was deemed as an acceptable cut to the population, without hampering the overall expectations upon the vaults survival estimates, though this failed to factor the vaults alter function as an incubation for social experimentation. Vault 14 contained upwards to nearly a hundred rooms, with two separated floors, including a Reactor level, a Medical lab and other facilities along with Administration rooms, Dormitories, and other recreational facilities including two separate diners. Much like other Vault facilities, it issued standard Vault-Tec Jumpsuits, with the Vaults designated serial number emblazoned on the back of the Jumpsuit, clearly noted as being machine washable. Ostensibly for marketing purposes, though why such an idea had been factored in to the general creation of the jumpsuit, no one was overly sure. Vault 14 was, much like any of the other Vaults, a social experiment. The social experiment was to test how the Vault would handle the effects of a middle-class ethos of competitiveness and, though not necessarily expected, co-operation. The population of the vault comprised a number of individuals selected through what was ostensibly a "Patriotic fund" lottery, to determine individuals of moderately sound financial backgrounds. The experiment was hoped to produce a scenario where individuals were to arise to the occasion within the vault, testing whether or not a middle class ethos of success would breed a healthy, functional societal unit within the Vault, or plunge the society in to chaos. All closely documented by camera and voice recording equipment throughout the Vault. This was somewhat hampered by the poor installation of much of this equipment, often times being left entirely exposed to the elements and quite clearly on display rather than concealed from the general populace. Much of this equipment would be torn down over the years and used for spare parts, or destroyed by vandalism. This society of do-gooder liberal minds, staunch Anti-communist conservatives flag wavers and educated minds of American middle class societies finest, brought an air of uncertainty to the outcome of the experiment, along with fascination in it's outcome. On October 23rd 2077, the Great War brought atomic fire to the Northwest Commonwealth, though Vault 14 spared those lucky enough to have been offered accommodation in the vault and those luckier still to have made it in time before the Vault door was sealed. Within less than a week however, the experiment seemed likely to fail, with the sudden death of the Vault Overseer, a Miss Bethany Hughes, who suffered a heart attack due to a considerably poor diet and an even more considerable refusal to acknowledge her habitual taking of Mentats. This void was initially filled by the forming of a ruling council, done as an act to avoid any conflict between conservative and liberal factions within the Vault, though this was only considered as a interim solution. Within twenty years of this supposedly stabilizing compromise to the appointment of a new overseer within the Vault, arguments as to who the new overseer would be became a matter of serious debate within the vault as what came to be called the ruling council which consisted of the chief engineer, Chief of security, Head medical doctor, and the Head steward, broke down and became even more unpopular than they ever imagined they could have been, igniting debate from members of the Vaults more conservative and liberal minds, intellectuals of both sides exchanging debate for fists on more than one occasion. Fortunately, the discussions were fruitful as cooler heads prevailed in the series of often-times fractious debates, sparing the small populace of Vault 14 for sixty long years, prior to the climatic day, whereupon it was decided by some plucky citizens of the Vault, to depart. Frayed tensions on the issue flaring and small cases of rioting in the vault, a now panicked Overseer attempting to rally security officers to perform arrests the dissidents, often times only too late having discovered the actual thoughts of general security staff when the matter of arresting the dissidents was presented. The sudden and abrupt break-down of social cohesion ended in an exchange of first yells, punches and finally gunshots. A civil War ensued, leaving half of the already depleted and continuously dwindling population either incapacitated or deceased, the dead also included the Overseer. Survivors included the then young Robert Davids and John Hartwood, but with damage to repair and little time for counting the dead or treating the wounded, many more died over the next two years, fortunately, the Vault Reactor level was undamaged during the fighting, as was the water purifier and Oxygen recycling system, bar a few filters in certain corridors, saving much of the Vaults precariously positioned populace. In 2182, the decision was made by the newly elected Overseer, Callum Andrews, to allow wasteland settlers of all descriptions in, and whilst some objected to this decision, it was eventually agreed upon, for both pragmatic and social requirements, with an ever decreasing gene pool, the risk of inbreeding became ever more concerning for the more liberal minded of the vaults population, within a few months, a number of wasteland settlers were admitted in to the vault, the group even contained a few Ghouls from neighboring settlements, some of which even held pre-War intellect to assist the Vault in repairs and maintenance, though much of the Vault was in a condition where areas were locked off to general access. Multiple accommodation areas being converted in to goods storage, and even attempted garden areas, though very few out of the numerous attempts at cultivation work produced suitable results. The Vault continued to thrive, remaining hidden until 2204. By 2208 Vault Overseer Callum Andrews decided it best to send scouts out into the Wastes to arrange trade of both supplies and equipment, allowing wastelanders to trade and purchase from the safe confines of the Vault, one of the upper most atrium was even converted to house stalls and shops. Following the events of that led to the destruction of Kirkman Artillery Base, the expeditions out in to the wastes ceased by order of the Overseer, and by 2251, all expedition team members had returned to the confines of the vault or had departed to settle in NCR territory. Currently, the Vault remains as a beacon of both trade and equality, old-world values assumed long dead in the wasteland of the Northwest Commonwealth. They have been spared attention from other regional powers luckily, leaving them unharmed from the recent wars. Continued increases in the Vault population led to the eventual weakening of power structures, such as the Vault security and Vault admin staff, with much of their power being weakened by what was viewed as a lack of respect for the well established power structures of the Vault. By 2263, the Vault was seeing the rise of multiple factions vying for power within the vaults administration, as well as a less than savory criminal element beginning to arise from the trading routes established in the Vault. The Vault certainly was prosperous as a open trading hub, with security and valuable resources such as clean water to trade in, but at a cost to it's isolation and general independence, with both new and old residents of the Vault becoming accustom, if not dependent, on the trade for fresh produce and goods, not otherwise readily available in the Vault. Even more concerning was the growing burdens upon the medical staff of the vault, now having to compete with both new and permanent arrivals to the Vault, as well as traders and merchants who had sought medical attention. Medical supplies were easily traded for, but medical knowledge was not so readily available and the continuing break-down of administration within the vault was seeing what Overseer Andrews was terming a "Brain-drain" in the population of the Vault. Though efforts were made to address the pressures on the vault, such as a caps credit check, as well as medical screenings to prevent contagion, were implemented, the continuing pressures on a weakened administration within the Vault as well as dependence upon the outside world, left the Vault in perhaps it's most precarious position since the civil war within the Vault. Category:Places Category:Vaults Category:Cascadia